Staffs agree at meetings and just walk out to disagree in silence. They present an official truth by agreeing with what a supervisor said but may not question. People would do differently however, if they were free to act out of officialdom. Everyone likes good news; even staff is encouraged to be positive, especially when embarking on a project.
You gather at a meeting to give feedback on a systems design proposed by the boss. Actually, the project is not going too well but you must make it look good to the boss. Therefore, instead of telling the truth you give the boss positive feedback which is untrue. You have just become a “yes” person. Of course, the boss is always happy with the good news and you are happy to be out of trouble.
The truth-telling culture is absent in many instances in all organizations across the globe as well of the United Nations. In UNICEF, we have had some excellent top brass that encouraged frank feedback. However, if ever a message delivers by a powerful person who had a lot of power; staff adapt to hold back their difference of opinion. Some junior staff may feel that level of position prohibits free expression when the culture is such that only the higher-level staff has brainpower. Not only that, it is also UN culture that what the top brass speaks is nothing but the truth. However, I did have a rude awakening to this.
One day I exercised the HRM rule that you can take a look at your personal file at certain intervals (once a year or some count like that) and I was appalled to witness so much untruth that past supervisors had said of me. UN staff who have doubts should exercise their privilege and peek into the HRM personal file at work, just to ensure that no ill-will is spoken of you which is untrue. The examples are better left out not to embarrass any person or persons. Sadly, the UN Performance Evaluation System (PER) is full of untruth, either willing untruth or mistaken untruth; in other words filled with flattery or scorn (The PER disruption has been cited in other posts on reform, etc).
One good starting point is for the UN and agency heads to start a Truth-Telling Program (TTP). A good TTP should become part of management culture with combined reassurance that staff would not suffer penalty for frankness. Encouragement of frank feedback will certainly be good for the organization. We all can agree that it is always better to hear the truth. Of course, in a multicultural organization like UNICEF, in New York and Europe (UN and its agencies at large) it may be all right to be frank and forthcoming, but in some other country cultures it may be considered the height of rude. Therefore, any TTP must take account of cultural sensitivities, and of race and gender. 'Is UNICEF An Equal Opportunity Organization"? (UNICEF Staff News, April 2006) is definitely showing that UNCEF is in need of a good dose of TTP which should also extend to nationality and grade to buttress discrimination as continuous improvement (meaning discrimination must continue to be visited over and over again as it will never go away).
When one corporate CEO asked his 1,000 and staff how the recent company merger was going, all he heard was just good news. The kind CEO just spoke back saying that the staff in his opinion were on drugs or not telling the truth. Only after, he reassured all staff that he wanted nothing but the truth that they returned some helpful feedback which in fact made the merger a success. Not only that, the staff felt committed since their opinions were also sought.
There are lots of good reasons why the truth hurts. A colleague may be a friend, and no one likes to disappoint a friend. Companies that embrace a "can do" spirit often frown upon even well-intentioned criticism. There are political calculations too: Vetoing someone else's project may invite retaliation against your project says Michael Wheeler, Professor of Management, Harvard Business School. Hear similar comments from top-rated corporate CEO's on how to face the hard truths of telling the truth. Of course, very seldom is the truth hidden, in the end it comes out.
Shame on those who are being untruthful but not for the sake of diplomacy or avoiding trouble. Perhaps, white lies may even be admitted in heaven if those lies saved a life or prevented a catastrophe.
Quotes:
"Tell the truth and shame the devil" (Henry IV Part I, III.i.55 - Shakespeare's writings).
"In the end, truth will out" (Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice).
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